Plural and Possessive Forms with Names Ending in y

How do you form the plural of a proper noun that ends in y such as Murphy? Should you change the name to Murphies? Given how other English words ending in y form their plurals, you would think so.Examples:puppy / puppies
army / armies
supply / supplies

However, proper nouns are not pluralized the same way common nouns are.Rule: Do not change the spelling of a name to make it plural. Instead, just add s.Examples:I visited the Murphys last weekend.We have two Zacharys in our office.

What if you want to show possession with a name that ends in y?Rule: To show singular possession, use the apostrophe and then the s.Example:I petted Mrs. Murphy’s cat.

Rule: To show plural possession, make the proper noun plural first, then use the apostrophe.Examples:I petted the Murphys’ cat.I visited the Murphys’ store on Main Street.

Rule: To show the plural of a name that ends in s, ch, or z, add es.Examples:The Sanchezes will be over soon.
The Thomases moved away.

Pop Quiz

1. I wish I had known the Kennedys/Kennedies/Kennedy’s better.
2. I know three Mary’s/Marys who live in Bangkok.
3. Mary’s/Marys dog is very friendly.
4. If the Kennedies’/Kennedys’/Kennedy’s home comes up for sale, I will buy it.
5. If Mrs. Kennedys’/Kennedy’s home comes up for sale, I will buy it.
6. Are the Church’es/Churches/Churche’s your friends?

Pop Quiz Answers

1. I wish I had known the Kennedys better.
2. I know three Marys who live in Bangkok.
3. Mary’s dog is very friendly.
4. If the Kennedys’ home comes up for sale, I will buy it.
5. If Mrs. Kennedy’s home comes up for sale, I will buy it.
6. Are the Churches your friends?

Posted on Tuesday, October 23, 2007, at 2:17 pm

If you wish to respond to another reader's question or comment, please click its corresponding "REPLY" button. If the article or the existing discussions do not address a thought or question you have on the subject, please use the "Comment" box at the bottom of this page.

Since you are talking about tickets belonging to Mike James, an apostrophe is used to show possession. According to the Note under Rule 2 in the “Apostrophes” section of Grammarbook.com, “Although names ending in s or an s sound are not required to have the second s added in possessive form, it is preferred.” Therefore, Mike James’s tickets would be the preferred spelling.

According to the note under Rule 2 in the “Apostrophes” section, “Although names ending in s or an s sound are not required to have the second s added in possessive form, it is preferred.” Therefore, the preferred way to write it is Marcus’s birthday.

Either one is grammatically correct. Your choice of word depends on the context of the sentence. A house is a type of building but homes can be different kinds of residences such as houses, apartments, mobile homes, etc.

There is a popular piece of artwork being sold these days designed for the home that says, “We do grace; we do I’m sorrys; we do hugs, etc.” A fellow teacher and I were talking about this, and the word “sorrys” came up. The spell-checker certainly doesn’t like that word, and neither did we, very much. I realize that sorry is seldom used as a noun, but was wondering if there is a rule to support this spelling. This one doesn’t really seem to apply because sorry is not a proper noun. Is there another one that would work for “sorrys,” rather than “sorries,” or is “sorrys” just a complete misspelling?

We don’t care for it, but “sorrys” used in this way is not wrong. It is a shame that the artist did not write “we do apologies.” Since sorry is not a noun or a name, there is no formal rule that applies to this unusual situation.

Following the rules, the plural form of the family name Fenech would be Feneches. But what happens when you have a plural possessive of this family name, i.e We took care of the Feneches’ dogs. Would that be correct?

Our blog Apostrophes and Proper Nouns says, “Add only an apostrophe to show possession for a place, business, or organization whose name is a plural noun or ends with a plural noun.” Therefore, write “Properties’ Five-Year Anniversary.”

I’m a bit stuck. The original word is Milnerton which we’ve shortened to Milly, if we were to name our pub would it be The Millies Arms or The Milly’s Arms? Like wise awards evening would be The Millies Awards or The Milly’s Award.

If the title begins with “The,” the name becomes an adjective, therefore no possessive: The Milly Arms. If you drop “the,” you could make it “Milly’s Arms,” which comes off as a playful pub name. Likewise, with awards, it is far more likely to be the Milly Award than the Milly’s Award, but logic does not always prevail in these matters.

i saw this exam paper with an answer.the question is. “neither of the sick puppies _____ interested in having dinner last night” the giving choices of ans are: is, are, was, were. the answer is was. can you please help explain this to me?

I’m wondering who created these “rules” and are other ways incorrect or just not as preferred (to some/many) as these listed here. For instance, do you think that my family can be the Wood’s or must we be the Woods? How would someone know that our surname is Wood and not Woods? Wood’s seems more clear and preferred to avoid confusion.

The authors of this website and The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation researched the leading reference books on American English grammar and punctuation, including The Chicago Manual of Style, The Associated Press Stylebook, Fowler’s Modern English Usage, and many others. The rules are based on areas of general agreement among the authorities. Where the authorities differ, we provide options to follow based on the reader’s purpose in writing.

A simple plural does not use an apostrophe. Therefore, the plural of Wood is written the Woods. If your last name were Woods, the plural would be written the Woodses. Apostrophes are used to show possession. Please see our post Apostrophes with Names Ending in s, ch, or z.

We are happy to help. One of you is half-right: “counties” does not show possession. However, “county’s” is a singular possessive that cannot be correct because the sentence references two counties. In order to show plural possession, first make the singular word plural, then add the apostrophe: singular: county, plural: counties, plural possessive: counties’.
Therefore the correct sentence is Martin and St. Lucie counties’ best children’s clothing store is hiring!
We can’t help but mention that they made the sentence more difficult than they needed to. We suggest The best children’s clothing store in Martin and St. Lucie counties is hiring!

“However, proper nouns are not pluralized the same way common nouns are.
Rule: Do not change the spelling of a name to make it plural. Instead, just add s.
Examples:
I visited the Murphys last weekend.
We have two Zacharys in our office.”

Why would the proper noun “County” be changed to “Counties” in this example? (I am dismissing the possessive form.)

“We are happy to help. One of you is half-right: “counties” does not show possession. However, “county’s” is a singular possessive that cannot be correct because the sentence references two counties. In order to show plural possession, first make the singular word plural, then add the apostrophe: singular: County, plural: Counties, plural possessive: Counties’.”

“Martin County” is a proper noun and “St. Lucie County” is a proper noun. However, when combined as “Martin and St. Lucie counties,” the word counties becomes generic and is no longer part of the specific names.
(We have edited our response of October 26, 2016, to clarify this point.)

GrammarBook,
What authority can you cite to support your position that proper nouns (last names) are exempt from the universal rule, providing that a singular noun ending in “y” preceded by a consonant becomes plural by changing the “y” to “ies” ?

This rule avoids the confusion that would be caused by changing the spelling of people’s last names. For instance, if your last name were “Barry,” we assume that you would want your family referred to as the Barrys not the Barries.

We assume the “Murphys” are members of a family named Murphy. This is a simple plural and requires no apostrophe.
An apostrophe would be required for Christmas at the Fairweathers’ unless it’s the name of an establishment, perhaps an inn or restaurant, named The Fairweathers.

Both spellings are acceptable. In accordance with The Chicago Manual of Style, plurals of proper nouns are normally formed by adding s or es: Toms, Dicks, and Harrys, for example. Exceptions are generally listed in Webster’s. We found that Webster’s lists both Januarys and Januaries as correct plurals.

I suppose the rule is the same for plurals of names that end in “i”? The result looks and “sounds to the eye” (so to speak) rather strange, as though it should rhyme with “hiss” when read aloud. Should the sign outside the home of Nancy Pelosi’s family really read, “The Pelosis”?

Please ensure that your question or comment relates to the topic of the blog post. Unrelated comments may be deleted. If necessary, use the "Search" box on the right side of the page to find a post closely related to your question or comment.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *